Root [HOW TO] and some root terminology

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if youre reading this because youre allready rootedor doing research because youre thinking of rooting,a word of warning:DO NOT ever attempt to accept an OTA while rooted.
an official OTA update needs the stock recovery to apply it. attempting to take an OTA without the stock recovery can result in a failed harmless attempt,a fixable bootloop,or even a brick. so please... dont do it. and if you do,see the end of post #3

with this thread,wormdoes and i hope to provide something we can reference quickly to some basic questions that are bein asked over and over by new rooters. id like to put a couple guides up for some basic things like making/restoring backups,wiping,and flashing roms,and general menu manipulation in clockwork recovery, as well as some more advanced guides for things like flashing radios in hboot,and flashing/tweeking kernels.

also go over some general terms and abbreviations used in rooting and roming.

i think i will reserve a 2nd post for terms,and a 3rd/4th post for some how to's.

this is for all of us,so please feel free to post or PM ideas to either of us,and to make contributions.

if youd like to add some terms and definations,PM them to me and all add them in the 2nd post. the defiantions are a combination of web definitions and my own words. please feel free to correct any incorrect or confusing definitions.

if youd like to submit a how to, you can pm it to either of us,or feel free to just make your own post. i will add a general listing either here,or in post 3 directing people to post #x for "how to whatever"

this is a work in progress,it may never be finished.

special thanks to those who have contributed:ridobe,wormdoes,ocnbrze, McLabia,yeahha,kattolo

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off the top of my head,in no particular order,some things we need to define:

md5 sumis a method of checking the integrity of a downloaded file. it can be checked on your phone with various file managers,or via an app called "scary aliens AFV android file verifier". it can be checked on your PC via a number of free programs,there are too many to list.

root(what does it mean to root)- root access simply lets you access system files,and other things that you would not normally be able to. being rooted allows you to make backups,change the ROM,add or delete things from the ROM,and use apps that require root access to run.

superuser access according to wikipedia: "On many computer operating systems, the superuser, or root, is a special user account used for system administration." basically,this means it is what designates what things have special permissions or privileges,and what things do not.

superuser app is an app that simply lets you delegate permssions to various apps that need access to the root files of your phones operating system.

ROM the ROM is simply the operating system. like windows xp on a PC

kernel is the core of the operating system. it controls all the other parts of the OS and makes everything work together.

nandroid backup is simply a backup made with a custom recovery of the ROM and user data on the phone at the time the backup is made. it is like a snapshot. when restored,everything will be EXACTLY as it was at the time the backup was made,down to the call log,texts messages present,apps in the app drawer,system settings,etc.

custom recovery is simply a recovery that gives the user the ability to make chages to and/or replace the ROM,as well as make and restore backups. the stock recovery can perform many of the same functions,but does not give the user any control or ability to make changes.

bootloader the bootloader simply "boots" the rest of the operating system. it runs before any other piece of code. among other things,it can be used to flash different parts of the operating system,or even the whole operating system.

engineering S-OFF bootloader allows for the bootloader to flash things that were not HTC(in our case here in the TB forum) approved. it exists legitimately for development and gives testers the ability to make changes on prerelease phones. it is desireable because it will allow us to flash recoveries,splash images,other parts of the OS,and even whole OS's that were not approved by HTC,since it does not do any sort of security checks. it also allows for advanced flashing in "fastboot" mode-something a normal bootloader is not capable of

hboot the part of the bootloader where files are flashed on an HTC device. in our case,files named PF05IMG are found and flashed in hboot. other HTC devices are similar,but differently named IMG files.

fastboot a part of the engineering,S-OFF bootloader that lets files be pushed to the phone. this is NOT possible with s-on,and is better as long as it is used with caution,. it can be especially helpful in a recovery situations where there are no OS or custom rescovery. it can be used to rebuild damage partitions,and even launch a recovery directly into memory.

ADB web definition: "Short for Android Debug Bridge, adb is a command-line debugging application shipped with the Android SDK. Adb provides tools to browse the device, copy tools on the device, and forward ports for debugging." basically,this is the window that you open on your computer to comunicate with your phone.

android SDK web definition: "A software development kit that enables developers to create applications for the Android platform." it includes development tools,including a command window that lets us push/pull files and communicate with a plugged in phone.

launcher used to open and close the app drawer,and launch apps. the buttons across the bottom of the screen are part of the launcher. there are a few third party launchers that can be used to replace what comes on the phone(HTC sense in the case of the TB and other HTC phones)

FC(force close) when an app malfunctions,it will force close,and stop. this can be casued by various things,most commonly restoring system data across different roms. this can be fixed sometimes by uninstalling the malfunctioning app and re-installing,but sometimes will need a clean install of the ROM if the cause was restoring system data.

splash screen the first screen you see when booting up your phone. from the factory it is white,with green "htc" lettering. this image is not usually changed,unless the user wants to do it,as the splash screen is only changable by flashing a new image in hboot.

boot animation the animations that plays after the splash screen. the thunder and lightening in the case of a stock thunderbolt,or the turquoise arrow circling the android in CM7. developers frequently change the boot animation in their custom roms.

radio is the bit of software that controls the phones reciver/transmitters. like any part of the OS it can be changed for better performance. you can tell what radio your phone uses by looking in settings/about phone/baseband. as a 4g device,the TB has two radios.

RIL is the Radio Interface Layer. it is basically a program between the Radio software and the ROM. It communicates with the hardware and supplies an interface for the ROM. its significance to the thunderbolt is the challenge faced by developers in writing the program from scratch for AOSP roms,due to the addition of a second radio for LTE data. the RIL makes sure there are smooth,seemless handoffs from 1x to 3g to 4g to wifi.

RUU is HTCs "Rom Upgrade Utility". it is simply a new rom,along with executable software run on your computer to upgrade firmware,much like flashing a file in hboot. some pictures of what the utility looks like here RUU pics and info when you see a reference to RUU here,or on XDA,people are generally refering to htc official firmware that is flashed in hboot,and not the actual utility updater.

OTA is an official Over The Air update sent out to phones over the airwaves by verizon. in most cases your phone will notifiy you when an update is available if running a stock rom. be aware,that there is a possibility that minor updates may possibly just be accepted by the phone with no advice or direction from you,the user keep this in mind,if attempting to run stock rooted firmware,as an OTA cannot be accepted by a rooted phone. ill take this opportunity to again say it: DO NOT ATTEMPT TO RECIEVE AN OTA WHILE ROOTED

gapps "google apps add-on". it is a small file containing some of googles proprietary apps,that is needed to complete a ROM based on AOSP code. there are legalities involved for largely distributed custom roms to have these apps built in,so seperate flash of these apps is used to make the rom complete.

AOSP Android Open Source Project. this is the code that google releases for various versions of android. phones that are marketed as a "google experience device",such as googles NEXUS line of phones,run this pure,unmolested code. other custom ROMs may use AOSP code as a base and add changes or tweeks. CyanogenMod is prolly the best example of a custom rom based on AOSP code. it is largely android as google intended with a few enhancements. most phone maufacturers will take AOSP code and modify it with their own User Interface and skin. examples are HTC Sense,motorola's motoblurr,and samsungs touchwiz.

governor is the part of the kernel that changes how the processor scales its differnet "clock" or speed settings. the governor is selected by a setting within the rom,or with an app such as setcpu.

a good description of governors by yeahha:
Some governers are reactive while others are predictave which can explain why some may provide better battery life but a slower response or lag.

Consertive is a reactive governer it will try to remain in lower slots as long as it can before going to a higher speed slot.

On demand is also reactive but as soon as the need to go to the next slot is realized it will scale up

Performance is predictive it will scale up very fast to the highest slot and try to remain in the higher slot unless the phone is idle.

Interactive is predictive it will scale up to a slot prior to the phone needing it to unlike performance it will be more conservative in when it goes up not always going to the highest slot. I have also seen interactive described as going to the highest slot as soon as the phone is pulled out of idle the dropping down to the slot above the one that is currently needed but I believe the jumping to the highest slot is done by the governers that have "X" after them as part of IMO's tweaks to his governers.

Smartass is a mix of predictive and reactive, it is a mix of interactive and on demand so scaling up like interactive but then dropping down to on demand slots.

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HOW TO listings:
-Root: see thread http://androidforums.com/thunderbolt-all-things-root/402115-thunderbolt-rooting-methods-updated.html
-Where to find custom roms and kernels: see thread Thunderbolt ROM list
-Flash ClockworkMod recovery: #3
-Download and transfer a ROM to your Phone #3
-Flash/wipe/backup in ClockworkMod recovery #3
-Restore a backup in ClockworkMod recovery #3
-What do do if your phone loops or freezes while booting #3
-Flash a file in hboot: #3
-what do do if you accept an OTA #3
-Manage and rename backups: #4
-Identify basebands/radios #4
-How to do a batch backup and restore using titanium backup #4
-How to backup and flash a kernel in ClockworkMod recovery #5
-How to use speedtweek.sh and chose a governor #6
-Advanced guide to flashing seperate lte/cdma radio files #15
-How to give your lock screen a custom background #16
-How to flash a rom and radio at the same time #17
-Change screen density #18
-Removing volume change "ding" sound on sense roms #19
-How to return to stock from permanent S-OFF hboot #22
-how to block OTAs while running a stock,rooted rom #34
-an alternate way to flash PG05IMG files #53

_________________________________________________________________

Flash ClockwordMod recovery
1)download rom manager from the market
2)open rom manager
3)touch menu softkey
4)touch settings
5)put a checkmark next to erase recovery
6)touch the back softkey
7)menu softkey again
9)touch clear download cache
10)at the top of the screen on rom managers main menu,touch "flash clockworkmod recovery"
11)confirm your phone model when the box pops up by touching htc thunderbolt
12)you should see a green status bar at the top of the screen.
13)rom manager will request superuser permissions. when superuser pops up,touch "allow"
14)next thing you hopefully will see is "clockwork flashed successfully"

download and transfer a rom to your phone
-find a rom you wish to download
-download it somewhere on your computer you can find it. when its finished,you can optionally compare the md5 sum to that provided by the rom developer. *note: DO NOT unzip or extract files from the download*special note: alot of AOSP roms will require a seperate flash containing proprietary google apps. this is the "google apps add-on" or "gapps". if youre downloading a rom that uses these,make sure to download and transfer it as well. roms based on stock sense roms will typically not need any seperate flashes,just the rom flashes.
-on your phone,go to setting/applications/development and make sure that there is a checkmark next to "USB debugging"
-plug your phone into into your computer,and place it in disc drive mode.
-trasnfer the downloads to the "removbable drive" that is your phone however you are comfortable. i like to drag files,so ill just open the "removeable disc" and "downloads" in windows explorer windows and drag the downloads from one to the other
-once the transfer is complete(in windows 7,the green bar gets all the way across ) you can remove your phone. eject the drive from your computer first(windows 7 click on the "show hidden icons" triangle and then click the lil picture of the usb plug. click "eject [whatever removabledrive that is your phone]"
-when you get the "safe to remove drive[whatever]" bubble,put your phone back in charge only mode. wait for the phone to re-mount the sd card(youll see "prepairing sd card" in the notification bar)
-on the phone,find your download on the sd card with "scary aliens android file verifier" or astro file manager,and check the md5 sum with that provided by the developer. this is an optional,tho somewhat important step,in my opinion,as it will prevent you from trying to flash a corrupt or incomplete rom download. this can save you the headache of having to fix your phone later if the bad file casues your phone to hang,bootloop,or boot into a non-functional rom.
-if your phone is sufficiently charged,you can now unplug it,or you can leave it plugged in to charge for awhile.

congratulations! you have just downloaded and transfered rom files to your phone. once its sufficiently charged,you can enter clockwork recovery to make backups,wipe and flash your new rom.

Flash/wipe/backup in ClockworkMod recovery*there are a couple ways to enter recovery:
1)manually from powered off state
-make sure there no PG05IMG files on root of sd card. if in a custom rom,go to settings/power and make sure "fast boot" DOES NOT have a checkmark
-power off your phone
-power on holding volume down. this should take you to hboot
-after the phone has checked for PG05IMG files(and not found any) select "recovery" using the volume rocker and power button. this will take you to clockwork recovery
2)from quickboot app
-download app.open,select "recovery"
3)from rom manager
-open rom manager. touch "reboot into recovery"
4)from the power off menu of some custom roms
-press and hold power. when the menu comes up,touch reboot. when the next menu comes up touch recovery

flashing a rom in recocery
*manipulating is done in clockwork via the volume rocker to move up and down,and the home softkey to select. you can go back to a previous menu by selecting the back option at the bottom of each menu,or by using the "back" softkey

*ALWAYS make a backup of a good working rom before flashing a new one. this will ensure you have a safepoint to return to if something happens,or you dont like your new rom

-download and transfer the rom to your phone using the method described above
-boot into clockwork recovery using one of the methods described above

1)make a backup
-select backup and restore
-select backup. be patient while it makes its backup,it takes awhile.
-go back to main menu

2)wipe data/cache/dalvik cache
*note that in some select cases,when updating a rom with a newer version of that same rom,the developer may tell you "a full wipe is not needed" in wich case you can eliminate the data wipe. most of the time,however,its a good idea to wipe all 3 of these things
*using the volume rocker and home softkey,in the main menu in clockwork recovery:
-select "wipe data/factory reset".scroll past all the NOs and select "yes-- delete all user data"
-wait for it to say "data wipe complete". youll be back at the main menu
-select "wipe cache partition". scroll past the NOs and select "yes-- wipe cache"
-wait for it to say "cache wipe complete". youre now at the main menu again
-select "advanced"
-select "wipe dalvik cache". scroll past the NOs to "yes- wipe dalvik cache"
-wait for it to say "dalvik cache wiped". youll still be in the advanced menu,so go back

congratulations. you have just done a full wipe and are ready to restore a different backup,or flash a new rom!

3)flash rom
*using the volume rocker and home softkey,in the main menu in clockwork recovery:
-select "install zip from sdcard"
-select "choose zip from sdcard"
-find and select the ROM you downloaded and transfered to the root of your sd card
-scroll past all the NOs and select "yes- install [whateverrom.zip you selected]"
-be patient,some roms can take what seems like forever to flash.
-wait for it to say "install from sd card complete".
*special note: cyanongen mod,and many other AOSP roms require a seperate flash of google apps add-on,or "gapps". youll need to have downloaded the appropriate gapps file and placed it on the sd card,along with your rom, if youre flashing a rom that needs them(example cm7). if youre flashing a sense rom,youre done- skip th next step.
-if you are flashing cm7 or an AOSP rom that requires gapps,do that now. youre still in the flash zip menu,so once again select "chose zip from sd card". find and select your gapps file. just like flashing the rom,scroll past the NOs to "yes- install [whatever your gapps file is called]". wait for "install from sd card complete!"
-so now youve flashed your rom,and your gapps if needed.youre still in the flash zip menu,so go back to the main menu.
-select reboot system now. dont panic,first boots can take awhile. give it at least 15 minutes before you decide that its hung at a particular point

congratulations,you have just flashed a rom. in most cases when it reboots it will come up on the "touch android to begin". go thru the setup process and enjoy your new rom.

if you do happen to have prollems,see "what do to if your phone loops or freezes while booting"

restore a backup in clockwork recovery
*first and formost,this assumes that you have made backups previously that you can restore.
-boot into recovery as described above
-wipe data,wipe cache,andd wipe dalvik cache as described above(this may not be compeltely neccessary,but is a good "better safe than sorry" practice,IMO)
-using the volume rocker and home softkey,select backup and restore
-select restore
-find and select the backup you want to restore(again,the numbers corespond to the date made. keep a physical list somewhere of whats what,or rename them as described in post 4)
-scroll past the NOs and select "yes-restore [whatever backup]"
-wait patiently. dont panic,it takes every bit as long to restore a backup as it did to make it.
-when its done,youll see "restore complete!"
-go back to the main menu and select "reboot os now". when it comes up,it will be EXACTLY as it was at the time you made the backup. your texts,call log,emails,etc. all will be just like you left them.

congratulations! you have just restored a backup in clockwork recovery

what do to if your phone loops or freezes while booting
*a bad flash can cause a couple different things. the most common is to hang at the splash screen or boot animation,or to loop over and over back to any part of the boot(back to the splash screen,or it may repeat the boot animation over and over) and never get to a booted up rom. it is also possible to boot into a non working rom. it could range from nothing working,to just a couple things not working. often a non functional rom will leave the user with no way to get apps from the market,and no file manager to side load them,making it impossible to get "rom manager" loaded onto the phone. THIS IS THE SINGLEMOST REASON TO NOT BECOME DEPENDENT ON ROM MANAGER TO BACKUP/FLASH/ETC. in some situations it will simply not be availble,and your only choice is to enter clockwork recovery to fix the problem. IN MY OPINION,EVERYONE SHOULD BECOME COMFORTABLE USING RECOVERY before attempting to use rom manager for anything other than intially flashing clockwork. once you can comfortably manipulate things in recovery,if you still feel the need to use rom manager to backup/wipe/flash then feel free. i personally do not. i feel it is much more reliable to do things manually in clockwork recovery.

*special note: a very,very common error is to flash an AOSP rom and discover upon boot that youre missing the market among other things. dont panic- you just forgot to flash gapps. follow the directions above to download and transfer the appropriate gapps file(rom should still be functional with no gapps) to the phone,then boot back to recovery and flash the gapps file just like you did the rom,but without doing any wipes.reboot and you should be good to go 99% of the time. if you experience any quirks from booting into the operating system between the rom flash and gapps flash,dont panic,and dont blame the developer. boot back to clockwork recovery,wipe data/cache/dalvik cache,and then flash the rom again,making sure to flash gapps immediately after this time around. reboot into the operating system and see if the quirks you were having have disapeared.

what do to in a bootloop,or hang at splash screen
-dont panic! this is a common problem and easily fixable. pull the battery and leave it out for a few seconds to turn the phone off.
-enter recovery thru hboot as described above(power on holding volume down. select recovery with volume rocker and power button) *special note: this is why its extremely important to not have "PG05IMG" files floating around on your sd card,as your phone will find it,and want to update. if you let it update, you may be able to enter recovery after,you may not,it depends onthe PG05IMG file. if you find yourself in this situation,again,dont panic. pull the battery to power off(obviuously NOT while the phone is updating as this can brick your device)your best course of action is to put the sd card into a card reader,insert it into a usb port on your computer,and then delete the PG05IMG file. now reinsert the card and try again to enter clockwork recovery from hboot.
-once your back in recovery,the most common course of action is to restore a backup to get a working phone again. follow the steps above to wipe data/cache/dalvik cache and then restore a backup.
-if there are not any backups,or for some other reason you do not want to restore a backup you can flash a new rom. if you allready have one on your sd card(that isnt the one that caused you the issues that brought you to recovery to fix) then you can simply follow the steps above to wipe and flash the rom.
-if you need to get a new rom onto your sd card,there are a couple ways. the easiest is to select mounts and storage from the main menu in clocwork,then select mount usb card for storage,and plug it into your computer. your phone will then show up on your computer just like it does when you select "disc drive" mode in a normal operating system. you can follow the steps above to download and transfer a new rom to your phone,wich exception of checking the md5. you will not be able to check it with astro or scary alien AFV,so make sure you check it on your computer before transfering. once you are done,eject from the computer first,then go back to the main menu,and follow above directions to wipe data/cache/dalvik cache and flash your new rom.

congratulations! you have just restored your phone to working order after a bad flash.

Flash in Hboot
*first and foremost,while it is really cool to have an engineering,security off bootloader,it comes with great responsibility. flashing a bad or incomplete file in hboot can brick your device,so use extreme caution.
-make sure you are only using files from reputable,known developers
-make sure you are checking the integrity of files by verifying md5 sums
-make sure your phone is well charged,as powering off during a flash could be very,very bad.

so here is the safest way that i know of to flash files in hboot:
1)download the file to your computer *note:do not unzip
2)use a file verifier to compare the md5 sum of your download to that listed for the file.there are lots of free file verifiers,heres an example here: Home of the MD5summer . this saves you from transfering a bad file to your phone,but is a somewhat optional step.
3)connect your phone to your computer and place it in disc drive mode. transfer the download to the root of the sd card(top level-not inside a folder) however you are comfortable. i personally open a couple of windows explorer windows and drag the download from one window to another.
4)rename the file on your sd card to "PG05IMG" if youre using windows. if youre using something else,you may have to add the ".zip" manually to the file name. windows likes to add the file extension automatically,then hide it,so if you type in "PG05IMG.zip" you may be actually naming the file to "PG05IMG.zip.zip". also please note that is a number zero,not a letter "O"
5)if you havent done so allready,now is a good time to right click on the drive that represents your phone in a windows explorer window,and then click "properties". your phones sd card MUST be formatted FAT32 in order for an hboot flash to work. if you find now that your sd card is formatted something else,youll need to back up everything on it to your computer,and re-format it to FAT32.
6) eject your phone from your computer first. then select charge only mode on the phone. if the phone has sufficient charge(some say 70%,i personally charge mine all the way) unplug the usb cable.
7)f youre currently on a custom rom,go to settings/power and make sure "enable fastboot" does NOT have a checkmark,as this will prevent you from entering hboot from a powered off state.
8) check the md5 sum again. you can use astro file manager,or a market app called "scary aliens android file verifier". this is the most important preventative step,IMO,as THIS IS THE FILE that youre going to flash. it could have become corrupted tranfering it over,so just because it was right on your computer,does not mean that its safe.
9) power off your phone
10)power on while holding volume down. if you have named the file correctly,and have a properly formatted sd card,the phone will find the file. youll see a couple status bars as the it unpacks it,then checks it. when its done it will ask you if you want to update.
11)select yes to update by pressing volume up.
12) youll see more status bars as the phone does things. if youre flashing a full ruu,sit back its going to take awhile. at this point i gently sit my phone down and let it do its thing. you dont want to drop it and have it land on the power button,or spit out the battery,so put it down and dont mess with it.
13) when the update is complete,it will tell you so. in some cases you may have an option not to reboot,in wich case you could manuver to recovery if you have something to do there. otherwise,reboot.
14) upon reboot,IMMEDIATELY DELETE the PG05IMG file from your sd card,as every time you enter hboot,the phone will find it,and try to update. this can be a big problem if you are stuck in a bootloop,hung up at a spash screen,or have some other problem that you need to get to recovery to fix.

enjoy your new radio,splash image,recovery,or whatever it was you just flashed

what to do if you accidentally try and accept an OTA while rooted
*first and foremost,dont do it. see the big red warning in the first post however,i have read about cases where the phone will accept a minor update without any notifications,or approval from you,the user. if this happens to you,first and formost,dont panic. ive only heard of one instance where this happend and wasnt fixable by going to recovery and flashing a rom or restoring a backup. hopefully you wont be a second. did i mention dont do it?
-if you pickup your phone and catch it looping in recovery,or looping to a strange screen with a triangle and exclamation point,it may have tried to accept an OTA without your knowledge. pull the battery.
-while the phone is off,pull the sd card and place it in a card reader so you can put it into your computer. youll want to remove or rename any PG05IMG files on your sd card. youll also want to place a a rom on the root of your sd card if you have no backups to restore.
-put your sd card back in your phone,and put the battery back in. boot into hboot by pressing the power button while holding volume down.make sure to press volume down a lil before pressing power. you may have to hold power and volume down for a few seconds before the phone comes to life.
-the phone should check for,and not find any,PG05IMG files. after it checks,chose recovery with the volume rocker and power button. hopefully this takes you to clockwork recovery.
-immeidately wipe cache and dalvik cache. this should stop the looping.
-at this point,catch your breath,and use directions above to do a full wipe and either restore a backup,or flash a new rom. when youre done,reboot. for simplicitys sake,id select a rom that will work with whatever radios youre currently running.
-IF this does NOT fix your problem,please take note of your bootloader info in hboot,and either start a new thread on the forum,or go to AndIRC webchat and ask for help there.

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How to Rename ROMs using ROM Manager
*special thanks to ridobe for this contribution

I would like to post a method of backing up/restoring that I use that has been flawless:

First of all, I use recovery to perform all of my backup and restore operations. That said, I keep Rom Manager on my phone in order to manage them.

I always keep a "very happy, perfect condition" restore point ready to go. I don't do a backup every time I do a flash.

1. Perform the backup in recovery using the steps from post #3.
2. Reboot
3. I immediately go to Rom Magager and click on "manage and restore backups".
4. Rename the file to whatever you like. The first numbers are the date, the rest are random. An example of what you could name it is: 2011-06-10_th3ory3.0candy-v3_lk-ex-3.0.1t2. This tells you when you did it and exactly what you have as a configuration. This helps for those of us who flash regularly. Flash-anon, lol.

***note*** Rom manager will not let you rename it in such a way as to alter the md5sum. If you rename it in windows or in a file manager I BELIEVE you can and will alter the md5. If this happens, you will not be able to restore that file unless you rename it back to the original random numbers.***

***note from scotty: be careful what characters that you use. i do not know for sure if clockwork will let you use characters that the unix shell interprets,so prolly best to just avoid their use. stick with letters,numbers,underscore(_) and dash(-) when naming. anything else may casue your backup to not be restorable.

5. To restore one of your files just boot into recovery and hit restore. Give it time.

keep in mind: each firmware has 2 radios-one for cdma/3g and the other for 4g. in order to use these radio downloads from this particular page youll have to do 1 of 2 things:

1)perform the radio flash in hboot twice-once for each radio

2) download them both,extract them,zip each image up with the android info text document from one or the other,and then zip them back up to create an hboot flashable file containing both radios.

3)simply see this thread for pre-bundled radios you can flash once in hboot: [url]http://androidforums.com/thunderbolt-all-things-root/399960-radios-recoveries-h[/url]

[B]How to backup/restore with titanium backup[/B]

*first and foremost,i very strongly reccomend the paid version of titanium backup. it lets you do batch backups and restores,instead of having to manually do them one at a time. its well worth the money for anyone planning to change roms with any kind of frequency.

*second-the paid version is simply a key. [U]you must keep the free version on your phone as well[/U]. if you ever download titanium and find it to NOT be in your app drawer,you likely have only downloaded the pro key. download and install the free version and it will appear.

*[I]VERY IMPORTANT[/I] [B]do not[/B] attempt to backup or restore ANY kind of system data. these items will be in green writing when viewing your backup/restore list. in some cases,its ok to restore things in red(system apps),but i personally only like to backup or restore user apps+ data,or things in white. restoring things from the green or red list can result in instability and force closes.(FCs)

-the first step,of course,is to download titanum backup free and paid from the market. the first time you use it,youll have to view the white screen that is the change log. if you have trouble after that, tap the "problems" box,and then "get busybox" if thats an option. after that,if you do not have the backup/restore button in the middle/top of the screen,your SD card may not be mounted. it could be a rom issue,an sd card issue. first check "storage" in settings and see if you can remount. if not,power off and physically check the SD card. if its pushed in,restore a backup where the SD was definately working and try and run titanium backup again.

[U]doing a batch backup[/U]

1)open titanium backup

2)push the backup/restore button in the top/center of the screen.

3)touch the menu softkey

4)touch "batch" from the menu

5)touch "backup all user apps" in the backup menu,the first time you run the batch. afterward,you can select "backup all new apps and newer versions" rather than backing them all up each time.

6)leave the dot on"kill active apps"

7)look down thru the list... you can unselect any apps that you do not care to back up.

8)touch "run the batch operation"

9)youll see a yellow status bar as the batch runs,and have a notification in your pull down while its progressing,and when its finished.

*congratulations,you have just backed up all your user installed apps with titanium backup!

[U]doing a batch restore[/U]

1)open titanium backup

2)push the backup/restore button in the top/center of the screen.

3)touch the menu softkey

4)touch "batch" from the menu

5)touch "restore missing apps+data" in the restore menu

6)leave the dot by app+data

7)look down thru the list. uncheck any apps that you dont really want to restore.

8)touch "run the batch operation"

9)youll see a yellow status bar as the batch runs,and have a notification in your pull down while its progressing,and when its finished.

*congratulations,you have just restored your user apps and assoicated data with titanium backup!

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How to Make a Nandroid Backup and Flash a Kernel in ClockworkMod Recovery (CWM)

First and foremost, only download zip files from reputable sources such as xda developers, androidforums.com, etc. Whether it be a kernel, ROM or theme, make sure you it's not from some shady website.

1. Download the Kernel you want to flash and place it on your SD card. I made a folder on my SD card called "All Things Root" and within that folder I have sub folders named "ROMs", "Kernels" and "Mods". I find this helpful, especially for someone like myself who flashes things constantly.

2. Get yourself into CWM. Whether you long press the power button and select reboot>recovery (if your ROM supports this, most do) or you power off and then hold volume down and power. If you chose the latter, this will boot you directly into hboot, not CWM. Hboot will check your SD card and when it's done use the volume down button to highlight recovery and power to select it.

3. Once in CWM, you need to make a nandroid backup. Always, always, always make a backup prior to flashing ANYTHING in CWM. Very important to get into a habit of doing this. Using the volume down button, toggle down to "backup and restore" and press the power button. If "backup" isn't highlighted, use the volume rocker to select it and press power. Let it do it's thing. Backups can take up to 20 minutes sometime. Set it down on that sexy kickstand and let it finish.

4. Now that you have a current backup of your ROM we can flash the Kernel. Using your volume rocker toggle down to "wipe cache partition" and select it using the power button. Toggle down to "yes - wipe cache partition" and hit the power button. Now go down to "advance">"wipe dalvik cache" toggle down to "Yes" and hit the power button. Use the volume rocker to navigate to "go back" until you're at the screen with "reboot now" at the top

5. Use your volume rocker to toggle down to "Install ZIP from SD card" and select it. Then toggle down to "chose zip from SD card" Here you'll see all the folders on your SD card. Go to the folder where you saved the Kernel and select it. Chose "yes-Instal nameofzipflie.zip"

6. After you flash the Kernel you can now reboot.

After you reboot if your phone is unstable due to the kernel you just flashed DON'T PANIC, it's ok. You can do one of two things to get your phone back to a stable condition. You can restore the backup you made prior to flashing the kernel or you can go back into CWM and wipe "cache partition" and "dalvik cache" again. Wiping the cache's again will remove the kernel and you'll be back on the kernel that came with the ROM you're using.

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This script will allow you to "transform" your kernel into normal, extreme, 1.92, 1.92X and battsaver versions (ie. it allows you to control speed, voltage, and slots to a certain degree).

Once you run the script, everything will be self-explanatory. To run the script:
1) Open Terminal Emulator (install it from market if you don't have it).
2) Type "su" (without quotes) and hit enter.
3) Type "speedtweak.sh" (without quotes) and hit enter.

InteractiveX - it's the interactive governor from CM, but I added suspend/wake logic so when the phone screen is off it runs at 246Mhz. Also, I modified its code some more to minimize unnecessary cpu spikes above 1.8Ghz if you happen to be running one of my 1.92 kernels. Most tbolts are unstable above 1.8Ghz, and it's the quick jump above 1.8Ghz that usually locks up the phone. It will hit 1.92Ghz only when it makes sense (ie. sustained high load). This is my favorite governor - perfect combination of speed and power efficiency.

OnDemandX - ondemand governor code from latest linux source *plus* the suspend/wake logic described above, except it has the ability to ramp to 369Mhz while screen is off. No additional code was added for stabilizing above 1.8Ghz.

Smartass - smartass code from erasmux, but I wasn't happy with its performance so I tuned it for quicker ramp up in speed. It has the same suspend/wake logic as ondemandX, and the same >1.8Ghz stabilizing mod as interactiveX.

*Special thanks to Imoseyon for the explanation in his thread that I used above

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How about a walkthrough of how to use speedtweak.sh and some overclocking basics, from what I have read it looks like the bolt is more or less stable up to 1.8 but I am not all that familiar with the governs used on the kernels for the bolt.

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How about a walkthrough of how to use speedtweak.sh and some overclocking basics, from what I have read it looks like the bolt is more or less stable up to 1.8 but I am not all that familiar with the governs used on the kernels for the bolt.

Click to expand...

sounds like a great idea. just need someone to write it i personally have not used speedtweak.sh,and OC my phone very conservatively.

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I've OC but not with speedtweak.sh the governers make my head spin, I was used to governers on the droid 1 they seem to have all been modded, tweaked, and optimized now.

Click to expand...

Ask and you shall receive. I added a speedtweak.sh and governors section to the OP. AFA overclocking/undervolting, I'm not really sure what you're looking for? With the addition of speedtweak.sh into the kernels, manually OC/UVing isn't as necessary as it was in the past with previous kernels.

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Ask and you shall receive. I added a speedtweak.sh and governors section to the OP. AFA overclocking/undervolting, I'm not really sure what you're looking for? With the addition of speedtweak.sh into the kernels, manually OC/UVing isn't as necessary as it was in the past with previous kernels.

Click to expand...

Exactly what I was looking for! Much easier than dealing with the trial/error of setCPU

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fisrt of all,this is an advanced guide. new rooters should not do this this is intended for advanced rooters that would like to mix and match the lte and cdma radios from different RUUs.

beginniners should find radio cominations that match,and are packaged together for one hboot flash. follow the "flash in hboot" directions in post #3

*general disclaimer: i am not responsible for the content of these files,ot any affects this procedure has on youre device. i have used it with no apparent side affects,but its impossbile to know how each device will react. you assume any and all responsability for your actions. flashing any file in an unsecured bootloader always has risks.

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First and for most,
I must start this by saying that before you do ANYTHINGmake a nandroid.
If you dont, well, that sucks for you.
I take no responsibility for your mistakes.
If a your phone turns into a zombie and eats your brains...
YOU SHOULDA RAN FASTER!

Now taking requests!

I wont claim to be some great artistic talent, but if you send me the image you want to use, Ill put it together for you. Donations not necessary, but always appreciated. Thanks!
You can find ones already done here!

So, most of us, Im pretty sure, think that the wallpaper on the lock screens suck. I was curious about if it was possible to change it and the answer I came up with was yes. Big thanks to Cy_ni_c for the heads up on this.

Once you have that downloaded, open it up. Now you want to get the image ready that youre wanting as your wallpaper. To make things easier on yourself, make three copies. The image needs to be set EXACTLY this way:

1. Image needs to be resized to EXACTLY 540x960. You can do this in any image editor.

2. Flip the image upside down.

3. The images MUST be PNG format.

Once you have this done, you want to grab the IdleScreen_Weather.apk out of the rom youre usings zip folder. Its located in system/apps. Once you get the apk, you want to open up m10 and click load file. Navigate and select the IdleScreen_Weather.apk.

Once this loads, you want to click the tab that says m10 Files. At the bottom of the screen, youll see where it says Decode Images, make sure you check that box.

You want to double click the Lockscreen_weather_bg.m10. It will ask if you want to decompile it. Click yes. At this point, youll be brought to the next tab which is Editor.

From here you want to expand until you see Textures. Under there you will see three spots labeled Texture. Click that and it will bring up an image to the right. Right click on this image and click "Show in Explorer". You will see three png files in here. You want to replace each one with the images you created earlier. This is important though. Make sure you copy the name of each file youre replacing EXACTLY. Im not responsible for any errors you make on renaming.

Once you get all three of the images replaced, go back to start and then save .apk Make sure to use the same name.

Now you can either push this through ADB or just place the apk onto your SD card. If youre using a root explorer, which is how I do it cause its just easier, you want to copy the apk into the system/app folder. You want to make a backup incase you run into any issues. Once you get your edited apk inside of the system/app navigate to the file and long press and go to permissions then set them as follows.

Read Write Execute
Owner: X X 0
Group: X 0 0
Others: X 0 0

Once your permissions are fixed, you want to reboot. When you reboot let it marinate a bit. Let it load up the weather before you unlock it. While this particular method is for the weather screen, you can do this with the Friend stream, stocks or any other one you pick up. The overall method will be the same, file names will change. Over all this is simple for even the biggest of us noobs, so now take the time to hit the thanks button and enjoy your new custom lockscreen

Tips:

If youre having issues with the picture that you chose, thanks to Black00StangGT, theres a possible fix. Open up your image editor and change the color sync rgb profile to the generic rgb profile.

If youre still having issues and youve tried all other things, thanks to PrsnlCrcl, theres a possible fix. Before you save, zip align the apk. More on that HERE.

BIG THANKS TO CY_N_IC for this. He told me and I transcribed it. enjoy!

If youre wanting to make anything disappear from your lockscreen like the clock or date, try this out.

Find /system/apps/idlescreen_base.apk and open it in the m10 editor.

Once open navigate to Lockscreen_time.m10/0x0dc10c5e/lockscreen_time/timeline.time_fade/text.lockscreentime_ and where you see where it says Visible=1(bool) if you change this to 0 it will be hidden. You can do this with each of the items there. Remember in binary 0=off and 1=on.

Once you make the changes, go back and save it. Push with ADB or replace in a root explorer like normal. Reboot and enjoy.

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how to flash a rom and radio at the same time
i have seen an increased need for this,with the combination of the outdated root guide,and the transition to newer radios for MR2 and gingerbread based roms. i dont believe there will be a longterm need for it,so im putting it here,rather than in post4 with the rest of the basic info.

there are several ways to do this. ill describe all methods,but method 1 is is MY personal reccomendation,as it is how our we were originally instructed to flash a rom/radio together,and also its IMO not abrasive like pulling a battery,and its faster than letting the phone boot completely betwen flashes.

method 1:you should have adb set up from root,so you might as well continue to use it.

1)start by downloading the rom and radio of your choice,moving them both to the sd card,and renaming the radio to PG05IMG. put your phone back in charge mode.

2)open a cmd window

3)

Code (Text):

adb devices

to make sure its connected. you shouldnt need to change directorys,as you wont be pushing any files,just giving the phone some commands. assuming you get a serial number back indicating adb sees your phone,procede to step 4.

4)entered at the > promt,this will cause your phone to boot into clockwork mod recovery:

Code (Text):

adb reboot recovery

5)now you will forget about your command window for a moment. pick up your phone(you can leave it plugged in) and manually backup your current rom,if needed,and wipe data/cache/dalvik and flash your rom of choice. detailed instructions in post 3 on rom flashing,backing up,etc. if youre unsure of this procedure.

6)wait for your rom to flash. after it finisheds,at the point when you normally would select "reboot system now" in clocworks main menu,go back to your command window.

7)optionally, you can make sure your phone is still seen after the rom flash by:

Code (Text):

adb devices

8)enter this code to get to fastboot:

Code (Text):

adb reboot bootloader

9)press the power button to get to hboot.

10) it should find your correctly named "PG05IMG" radio file and ask if you want to update. vol up for yes.(more info on hboot flashing in post 3)

11)when its finished,yes to reboot. at first opportunity,remove or rename your radio file in case you need to enter recovery thru hboot.

enjoy your new rom and radios

method 2: flash radio first
1)download rom and radio of choice. place them both on your sd card,rename radio to "PG05IMG"
2)power off your phone.
3)enter hboot via volume down/power
4)allow hboot to update radio(see post 3 for more info on hboot flashing)
5)reboot when finished. dont freak out if your on a rom that uses different radios than you just flashed when you have no signal youll have it back as soo as you flash a compatible rom
6)remove or rename radio file from sd in case you need to enter recovery via hboot.
7)go to clockwork recovery via any means you prefer. backup if needed,wipe,flash new rom. when finished reboot.

enjoy your new rom aND radio

method 3: radio second
1)download rom and radio of choice. place rom on your sd card.
2)go to clockwork recovery via any means you prefer. backup if needed,wipe,flash new rom. when finished reboot. again,dont freak out if you have no signal. it will be back as soon as you flash the radios.
3)place radio file on sd card,rename to "PG05IMG"
4)enter hboot via any means you prefer(see post 3 for more details on hboot flashing)
5)let hboot update your radio. when its finished reboot. remove or rename radio file in case you need to enter recovery via hboot

enjoy your new rom and radio

method 4:battery pull(my least favorite method. i liken pulling the battery to unplugging your PC while its running,so i only to it when absolutely needed... just my personal preference.)

1)download rom and radio of choice. place them both on your sd card,rename radio to "PG05IMG"
2)enter recovery via any means other than thru hboot(you wont be able to with the PG05IMG on your sd)
2)backup current rom,if needed,wipe,flash new rom.
3)make sure rom is finished flashing! at the point that you would normally press "reboot system now" reomve the battery cover and pull battery eek
4)now enter hboot via volume down/power. allow it to update radios. reboot.
5)rename or remove radio file in case you need to enter recovery via hboot.

enjoy your new rom and radios

PLEASE NOTE AOSP roms will require a seperate flash of GAPPS,if youre flashing an AOSP rom with any of these methods,youll simply flash gapps immediately after flashing the rom. see post 3 for more detailed info on rom/gapps flashing

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Here is something you newer rooters may not have known you could do with root, change the LCD density to make your phone screen appear a higher resolution.

It is a simple hack of the build.prop. Using root explorer out are looking for the line "ro.sf.lcd_density=240" you will then change the 240 to a lower number. Keep in mind this may affect how some apps look in a bad way.

When doing this hack please do not drastically change the density at once, go down by steps of 20 or less per reboot so you do not have issues upon boot.

I personally like 185 for AOSP roms using launcher pro and I think 209 or 210 is best for sense roms but I am an AOSP guy so I could be wrong. I am attaching 3 screenshots of unedited build.prop files and 1 screenshot of an edited one.

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If you do not like to hear the volume "ding" when you are changing volume levels on your phone, and you are running a sense rom there is a quick and easy fix for that.

1. Using root explorer (or your root file manager of choice) navigate to /system/media/audio/ui
2. Once there you will see several mp3 files named volume-1.mp3, volume-2.mp3...
3. Rename them adding ".old" after the mp3 and this should eliminate that ping sound after a reboot. If it does not then you can download these and replace the current mp3 files with them

1) hopefully you still have the unzipped exploits file from when you rooted. if not,redownload it from here. if it is enuff later in time that youre coming across this that the exploits file is no longer available,let me know i can get you the hbooteng.nb0 file.

2) move the hbooteng.nb0 file from the exploits file to whatever folder you pushed files from when you rooted. in most cases this is tools or platform-tools in the android-sdk-windows folder. *note this guide assumes this file to be named exactly "hbooteng.nb0"

3) check the md5, check the md5, check the md5 of this image in this folder,since this is the image youre going to flash. it must exactly match 6991368ee2deaf182048a3ed9d3c0fcb if it doesnt,redownload,try again. this is very important- just like when you rooted,you must be sure the bootloader file isnt corrupt. if you mess up your bootloader,nothing will boot,your phone will be bricked.

4)read #3 again hopefully ive gotten the point across

5) now open an adb command window. change to the directory that your file is stored. in my case:

Code (Text):

cd c:\android-sdk-windows\flashables

yours will prolly be different,for example:

Code (Text):

cd c:\android-sdk-windows\tools

6)plug in your phone,make sure usb debugging is on,put it in charge only mode.

7)

Code (Text):

adb devices

and make sure its connected

8)

Code (Text):

adb reboot bootloader

to boot into fastboot. *do not push power to select hboot. fastboot is where you need to stay for this.

9)

Code (Text):

fastboot devices

to make sure its connected

10)enter

Code (Text):

fastboot oem mw 8d08ac54 1 31302E30

11) enter

Code (Text):

fastboot flash hboot hbooteng.nb0

if you select bootloader at this point from the fastboot menu, youll still see the permanent s-off hboot,so select reboot with the volume rocker and power button and let the phone reboot. after it boots,you can adb reboot bootloader again,or power off, then power on/vol down and check that your pink "UNLOCKED" or "REVOLUTIONARY" is gone and you have the old 1.49.2000 bootloader.

last and not least,heres what youll see when you do this(the red is my inputs)

once you have verified that youre on the original eng s-off,1.49.2000 hboot,you can flash a "back to stock" RUU if your choice. which one prolly depends on your needs.

i *believe* that you can flash mr2 overtop of something without a SECURITY WARNING but ive never done it,so i cant reccomend doing this. if you want to try it,do so at your own risk.

prolly the safest method would be simply to flash shipping firmware as directed here: simple un-root!

this will give you 1.12.605.6 firmware with s-on and stock recovery. after you boot and sign in,you will shortly be badgered to OTA to current firmware(at this time MR2),wich i would prolly allow to happen,depending on your reasons for returning to stock.

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how do we flash a new splash screen in hboot... what exactly do we need to do.. a write up added to this awesome guide would be great thank you..

i should to do it with the das bamf tool kit.. but for some reason it wont work anymore.. got any ideas... this only started after i screwed up my hboot... but since then ive recovered and have root and am back to hacking status normal. so i need to know how to do it manually

edit: ok so i found out how to do it thru hboot usiing fastboot command
fastboot flash splash "splash image"
but for some reason im getting partition not found... wtf... where did it go lol.. see this all stemed from when i effed up my phones hboot... so what should i do

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how do we flash a new splash screen in hboot... what exactly do we need to do.. a write up added to this awesome guide would be great thank you..

i should to do it with the das bamf tool kit.. but for some reason it wont work anymore.. got any ideas... this only started after i screwed up my hboot... but since then ive recovered and have root and am back to hacking status normal. so i need to know how to do it manually

edit: ok so i found out how to do it thru hboot usiing fastboot command
fastboot flash splash "splash image"
but for some reason im getting partition not found... wtf... where did it go lol.. see this all stemed from when i effed up my phones hboot... so what should i do

in a nutshell,download the splash flasher,download the android info text document. download the stock splash(just in case you need to put it back)

find pic you want to use. you can mod it with any photo shop editing programs. its got to be sized 480x800.

i put the splash flashed on my desktop,but you prolly wouldnt really have to. open it up. drop your pic into the place image here folder. click the "click here" app and follow the directions to change your pic to the proper hboot flashable image. rename the image "splash1" and zip it up with the android info text document.

place on the root of your sd card and rename to PG05IMG and allow hboot to flash

ill try and work on something alittle more step-by-stepish if i get a chance

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OK, so this is probably a newbie question but what the hell does S-Off mean? I rooted my TB and I have looked around on here and have yet to find what that term means. I've picked up on a lot of other terms and even though I may not fully understand them yet I do get the basic idea. So please what is S-Off and all the other S terms mean?

Also...I'm really going to have to read this thread hardcore later on to find out how you guys were able to do that background picture of the dolphins and sharks logos. That is really cool and I want to learn how to do that...I'll read up on it later so long as it can be done with my TB being rooted thru the Unrevoked method.